Big Dog, Tiny Bed

For the first time in either of our dogs' lives, we have a hardwood floor. We have not yet invested in an area rug, so the dogs have been sleeping on the entryway rug, upstairs or on the cool floor. This was fine in warmer months, but now that it's a tad frosty outside, the floor just doesn't seem as comfortable as it used to be.

We took our fleece dog blanket (usually used when traveling) and folded it into a bed for Baxter and we bought another fleece crate pad/bed for Kirby, both of which we put down on the living room floor. This made for some happy evening dog-snoozing and provided a place for them to more quietly chew and drop their toys.

For a while, Baxter and Kirby were keeping to their own beds, and occasionally Kirby would come over to Baxter's and curl up next to him. The other evening, Kirby claimed the big bed first and surrounded himself with all of his toys. Baxter, rather than kicking Kirby out or laying down next to him, went over to Kirby's tiny little bed, turned around three times in progressively smaller circles and curled up so tightly that even his noze and stub of a tail were entirely on the bed. (This picture doesn't even capture how tightly wound Baxter was...at one point his nose was resting on his back legs mere inches from his tail.)

Apparently Baxter decided he liked this rather tight sleeping arrangement, because the next night, unprovoked by Kirby's encroachment on his bed territory, Baxter looked at both beds and decided to sleep on the little one. I thought maybe it was a matter of location, so I switched the location of the big bed and the little bed. Baxter again chose the little bed.

Now, I can't figure out why he would do this, when it requires a tremendous effort for him not to hang over the edges on every side. Perhaps the newer, little bed is softer (although it seems about the same to me). Or perhaps it's just Baxter's way of telling Kirby "I can sleep wherever I darned well please"...?

In any case, it's a pretty funny sight to see...

Speaking Faux-English

Both Baxter and Kirby have, on occasion, tried to talk to us. Baxter's attempts at speech usually take place when two or more people are standing and talking. For some reason, this drives him crazy. He likes it better when we're sitting in chairs talking. Perhaps that's because we're closer to his level. Or perhaps he associates standing and talking with the logistics of leaving and wants to make sure he's included in the conversation. In any case, when my husband and I do engage in an on-the-fly, standing conversation, Baxter inevitably comes and stands next to us. If we don't acknowledge him, he starts yowling. This is not a bark and it's not a bay. It involves pursing his lips into a near-circle and sounds something like:

"Row woo woo oooo!"

At first it was cute. We were impressed. But he's still at it eight years later. Still, I have to admit that while it is disruptive, we can't help but laugh when he does it.

I don't know if Kirby picked it up from Baxter or if he's just improvising on his own, but he's been honing his faux-English skills as well. Kirby's attempts at speech usually take place when he wants something from us and we're not paying attention to his poinking (that's when he takes his little nose and pokes you with it, amazingly hard) or his pawing of our legs. He looks earnestly into my eyes and starts articulating sounds that are spookily close to sounding like actual words.

The other night he hit a new, more complex level of articulation. As we sat on the couch watching a movie, he came up to me and put his paws on my leg (he ALWAYS has to go outside about 20 minutes into a movie...no matter what). I ignored him. He tried again. Finally, out of frustration, he sat down on his bum and said something like:

"Ow ow ow wingy row rewerrr, ra ngow wow wow." His face was serious. His lower lip protruded, showing his little bottom teeth. His eyes were sharply focused and unwavering.

My husband and I looked at each other in amazement. That was the longest dog sentence either of us had ever heard. It surpassed Baxter's yowling. It rivaled the dogs you see singing on television, but no howling or yowling was involved. It was low, measured and matter-of-fact. It had a rhythm and tone that rose and fell like words in a human sentence. It really seemed like he was attempting to articulate something.

Ok, ok, for all of you scientists out there, I'm not claiming that Kirby was speaking human language (and my transcription may not be entirely accurate). But I do think he may have been trying to mimic sounds that get our attention as we humans talk to each other. He certainly succeeded. He got his trip outside. I'm now certain he will do it again and again and again.

Now he's taking it to non-humans. Yesterday I heard Kirby in the laundry room making low, growly word-like sounds. He was talking to the hamper. "What the..?" I wondered to myself. About the same time I went in to investigate, so did my husband. Kirby was sitting there looking up at a bag on the top of the hamper...a bag that held a stuffed moose that was in need of repair.

Perhaps he thought if the sweet talking worked on us, he might be able to convince the moose to come out of the bag. We may never know. But I'm looking forward to the next thing he says (and to Baxter expanding his repertoire as well).

Dogs don't make excuses (but I do)

Wow. I opened up my home page today and realized it has been two weeks since I wrote in my blog. Why? Not sure. At first I told myself I was just lacking in subject matter (which is pretty lame because the dogs provide lots of daily opportunities for storytelling). Or I'm just swamped with work. That's certainly true (and it's a good thing mostly). But I've been extremely busy at other times and still made time to write in my blog.

No, I think this time I'm lacking in some internal inspiration that makes me put the words on the screen. Some of it is stress. I'm never very inspired when I'm overwhelmed. And some of it, I think, is worry... Whenever I start thinking about "dog updates," I find myself wanting to say something about Kirby's condition. And the fact is, I don't have any more to say about it. We're waiting. He's done his two months of Interceptor with no complications. So that's good news. He's gained a pound from his imposed low-exercise lifestyle (I, however, am getting stronger from carrying him up and down the stairs). And the @#$% heartworm(s) that the tests say are inside him are just in there doing whatever heartworms do until we administer the heavy meds some time next month.

I think I'm just not good at waiting for such things. On the one hand, I never want that day to come when we give Kirby the Immiticide (kills the adult heartworms). He seems so normal, so healthy and happy and playful now. And I know that will be hard on him and, potentially, harmful to him as well as the heartworms. On the other hand, I want the whole thing to be over with and Kirby to be fine so we can get back to things like trips to the dog park and games of chase up and down the stairs.

Kirby has grown into such a sweet little dog. He's trustworthy (never bothers our things when we're away, never chews anything but his toys). And he has a wonderful, cheerful disposition. His tail wags almost constantly. He and Baxter have even started curling up together in the evenings. I never thought I'd see the day (Kirby has always tried, but Bax usually gets up and walks away). I think Baxter has accepted Kirby and, dare I say, grown fond of him.

So, anyway, if I were to write about what I'm thinking and feeling with regard to our scruffy dogs, this is pretty much the stuff that's running through my mind every day. And such repetition makes for a very boring blog.

In the coming weeks I'll try not to worry so much. I'll seek inspiration from positive thinking and try to be a little more regular about my writing.

Anticipating Routine

While I'm sitting here feeling that I'm not quite ready for the holiday break to be over, I bet the dogs are looking forward to once again living a more routine lifestyle. Nothing has been routine since the weekend before Christmas -- first travel, then having a houseguest (my husband's brother, very popular with the dogs) since last Friday evening. It's been a whirlwind of unusual activity, shifted sleeping hours and nobody sitting at their desks working. It's been fun. And the dogs seem to have enjoyed the road trips and all the extra play time with family members, but when my brother-in-law sat down at my computer to write an email this morning, Baxter and Kirby quickly assumed their "work" positions under my desk. They seemed so content to see a glimpse of routine, even if only for a few minutes.

And routine they soon will have. As my mom is fond of saying, "the party's over." We dropped my brother-in-law off at the Amtrak station this evening and came back to an all-too-quiet house. My husband and I retreated to our computers and the dogs immediately assumed their usual places. I'm sitting here staring at the pile of work on my desk, my "to do" list for first thing tomorrow morning. A couple of weeks ago "I'll get to that after the first of the year" was such a sweet idea...a blissful and understandable act of holiday procrastination. Time's up.

While I'd love to have another week of hanging around with family and friends, eating rich food and avoiding work, there's a small part of me that, like the dogs, will be happy to return to some semblance of routine. (As freelancers who work from home, our idea of "routine" is still pretty flexible compared to our past professional lives as commuters and office cubicle dwellers.) And I must admit, I do look forward to the work that lies ahead.

I have some great clients and interesting projects to work on. And knowing I'll be sitting at my desk tomorrow morning with a hot cup of coffee in my hand and Kirby and Baxter at my feet makes the anticipation of jumping back into the world of work a much sweeter prospect.

Happy Holiday Travels

We spent Christmas in Washington with my husband's family this year. The highlight for the dogs, I'm sure, was playing with our 3-year-old neice who is fearless and very dog-focused. Kirby, while still a little skittish when people suddenly emerge from behind closed doors, behaved quite well. He sweetly interacted with everyone and played cheerfully with the little one. Baxter was his usual calm self, padding around the house, sticking his head into people's laps for a pet, watching the birds in the feeders out back and, mostly, snoozing.

The home was festively decorated, the tree was up, Bing Crosby crooned on the CD player and the smell of Christmas cookies and my mother-in-law's pies baking was heavenly (the taste was even better). Before arriving there, I was having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit. In the midst of unpacking and trying to find things, we never managed to get any decorating done this year and I was missing it.

The dogs were decorated a wee bit as well. Despite the astounding number of holiday dog fashions in the stores, we always keep the holiday dog decoration to a minimum. My husband pretty much rejects the idea of ever putting anything but a collar on a dog, but he relents during the holidays. I do see his point, but since I also sport a holiday pin or scarf occasionally, I don't really have a problem with making the day special through small, understated attire. I put a red bandanna around Baxter's neck and a red, stretched-out scrunchy around Kirby's. I think it's particularly interesting how the dogs seem to understand that this is something special. Baxter, who also ended up sporting a green curled ribbon off of one of my husband's gifts, seemed downright enthusiastic about his holiday wear. When I picked up the bandanna the first day he walked right up to me and presented his head so I could easily put it on. Kirby, who wasn't quite sure about the whole thing initially, had figured out by the second day that the scrunchy made him look cute to observers and willingly approached to put on his holiday wear.

While Kirby was still a wee bit nervous about all the ripping and tearing when it came time to open presents, Baxter jumped into action as usual. He LOVES helping people unwrap their presents by sticking his nose directly into the middle of the goings-on and grabbing bits of paper and ribbon in his front teeth to help pull them away from the box. Bags are even more fun -- Baxter unabashedly sticks his entire head into the bag, whether your hands are in there or not. Mind you, he never touches a package until it's time for opening. I've always been impressed with Baxter's level of understanding of the entire process. When it comes to his own, he tears into them with particular enthusiasm. He knows.

This year Baxter got a rope candy cane from my mom -- a gift he seemed quite enthusiastic about until Kirby swept in underneath him and stole it. Once it had Kirby slobber on it, Baxter refused to touch it.

Kirby pretty much waited for us to pull out his presents and give them to him. When we pulled out a black rubber bone, Baxter took the opportunity to steal. He grabbed it and headed for the other side of the room, where he immediately tore into it, working out all of the pent-up aggression from a few days without a trip to the dog park. Within 30 minutes he had succesfully chewed the end off the black rubber bone and we were forced to take it away from him, fearing he might ingest gut-clogging amounts of rubber. Poor Baxter, who had been pretty gleeful about the whole deal up to that point, was crestfallen. He watched my husband take the bone away to the garbage, put his head down and sighed. No other presents could thrill him after that point.

This year the big hit for Kirby was a stuffed pink and tan moose from my mom. He immediately found the squeaker and made the rounds of the room showing off the moose to each person while accompanying his journey with a chorus of squeaks. After several slow laps (we had to put the kabosh on running in the house -- both because of his condition and because the grandparents had issued a "no running in the house" rule) he finally settled down behind my mom's feet and proceeded to destroy the squeaker. He did a couple more laps making a whooshing sound, and, after finding this less rewarding, proceeded to eviscerate the moose. Moose went away at that point. So much for cuteness.

I have to say, overall, both dogs were very well-behaved. They suddenly found themselves in a house full of people, tempted by tasty smells and baby toys they weren't allowed to touch. They took naps, sat patiently under the table waiting for scraps that never came and looked longingly at the toddler who kept waving Christmas cookies over the edge of her high chair. There were no dog-related tears, messes or embarassing moments. Minor scuffles between Baxter and Kirby ended without significant issues and they were on to the next distractions.

We had a wonderful time seeing family and the dogs seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

On behalf of both Baxter and Kirby, we wish our readers a very happy holiday season and all the best in the new year!

The Stairway Gates

Repeating this photo in full frame...Kirby's favorite dining spot.

As a part of Kirby's "nothing to get his heart rate up" treatment protocol, we have to prevent him from running up and down the stairs. That's not an easy task. Attempts to block the stairs with a temporary combination of cardboard boxes and an old CD rack were proving a bit too difficult for us to manage and a bit too easy for Kirby to push through. So we finally went to the store and bought a couple of dog gates, one for the bottom of the stairs and one for the top.

Of course, being the skittish little guy he is around new things, he was terrified of the gates at first. But now he stands in front of the gate and lifts up his front legs so we can pick him up more easily. I'm always amazed at how quickly dogs adapt.

While I'm sure that missing this critical daily exercise will result in Kirby getting a bit out of shape, carrying him up and down the stairs is certainly helping to strengthen our arm muscles.

But I do feel sorry for Kirby. Moving to a house with stairs gave him a whole new avenue for burning off excess energy. While Baxter has always been at somewhat of a loss for spinning and running space in our relatively small homes (one reason we frequent the dog park and go for long walks), Kirby has been perfectly able to work up a good pant just doing the Kirby Derby around the furniture.

When we moved into our new home, Kirby adapted to the stairs with glee. Running up and down repeatedly -- with or without squeaky toy -- became one of his favorite activities. He even started eating on the stairs. Kirby would run into the kitchen, scoop up a mouthful of kibble, run up to the first landing in the stairway, spit out the kibble and proceed to eat each piece individually before racing back down to the kitchen for another mouthful. (Baxter, who prefers to gobble down his food right in front of his dish seemed completely non-plussed by the whole affair.)

I think we'll all be glad when this treatment is over and Kirby can start strengthening his climbing muscles again. Of course, at that point I'll need to dig out the hand weights to keep those biceps toned...

Kirby: To Trim or Not to Trim?

It's holiday time and most folks around here are talking about trimming their Christmas trees. In our home, the conversation has instead turned to trimming Kirby.

Since Kirby is of diverse breed lineage, the sky's the limit when it comes to options for proper hairstyle. To date, the extent of his trimming has been toenail clipping and cutting his eyebrows so he can see out from under them.

For me, it's been a matter of curiosity -- while his back and legs are wiry, his cheeks, neck and ears are covered with longer, softer hair. As a pup, he looked more wiry because his facial hair was shorter. But over the past year we've been watching this softer hair grow and grow and grow. Now he's looking a bit like a Yorkie mix.

There's a part of me that wants to just leave things as they are to see just how long the hair will grow. The extra hair on his ears makes them look a bit floppier and it fills out his face nicely. On the other hand, as my husband pointed out the other day, Kirby was pretty darned cute when his facial hair was a bit shorter.

So I'm putting it out there -- as we contemplate whether to trim up the little guy for the holidays, should we take a little off the ears, cheeks and neck or should we just let his long-haired genes express themselves unfettered?

Visual aids - of course, he'll never look like a puppy, but you get the idea:

Long/adult:

Medium/older puppy:

Short/puppy:

Carrying Kirby

It's amazing how quickly Kirby has adapted to having my husband carry him up and down the stairs. While he still can't seem to get the idea that we don't want him jumping up and down like a rubber ball when preparing to go outside, and while I know he'd much rather be running up and down the stairs, he no longer struggles or wears that guilty face when my husband carries him. He just sits there, cradled in the crook of the arm, like a little prince getting special treatment from the king.

ScruffyDog Puppy Picture "Cute-Off"

It's amazing how the objects that belong to you are lost and rediscovered through the process of moving. We still have unpacked boxes that are still packed from our last move five years ago. Finding and opening one of these little time capsules is almost like home archeology.

One of the little gems we uncovered in one of the aforementioned digs was a box containing a couple of Baxter's puppy pictures. These pictures were taken pre-digital camera and somehow didn't make it into an album or a frame, but they are so adorable I just can't resist posting them.

Now, I tend to think ALL puppies are cute, scruffy puppies particularly so. But I have to say, even among the cute, scruffy puppies, Baxter still stands out for me as one of the cutest puppies I have ever seen. (Kirby was pretty darned cute, but Baxter is some pretty tough competition...)

So here we go, the ScruffyDog Puppy Picture Cute-Off:

Day 1 - Kirby's Treatment

Today we gave Kirby his monthly dose of Interceptor -- this time as part of the heartworm treatment. The goal is to kill all the larvae and stop the adults from making any more. The instructions we're always given when putting our dogs on heartworm preventative is that if you are more than a month late with a dose, you should have your dog tested prior to starting up the treatment again. Apparently this is because there is some risk of complications from the die-off of the larvae if they have accumulated over time.

Our vet told us to watch Kirby closely for the first 24 - 48 hours, just to make sure he doesn't show any signs of trouble, and to keep him from exertion. Small walks are supposed to be OK, so I thought I'd at least take the boys for a little stroll in the sunshine this afternoon. But poor Kirby, having been cooped-up for days, started jumping and frolicking like a puppy. He walked the better part of a block mostly on his hind legs, pulling on his harness and hopping like a bunny.

"This can't be good," I said to myself. I tried to get him to calm down, but he was so full of enthusiasm it was quite obvious that this walk was going to be an aerobic affair for Kirby. So I took him back in and handed him to my husband. He was crestfallen.

I'm glad he's not showing any reaction to the medicine, but today was just a preview of what's ahead of us trying to keep him calm when his youthful exuberance needs an outlet. I remember that feeling of boundless energy I had as a youth. It passes too quickly. I hope that Kirby will adapt to the new reality fairly well and that, in a few months time, this will all be behind us and he'll be running with his friends at the dog park once again.

Kirby's Shocking News

For several days now I've been trying to muster up the courage to write in my blog. Usually I find writing about our dogs to be a joyful act, but at this moment I feel no joy in writing. I am still sort of in shock and dreading the words I know I have to write here. I feel like I have to write about this because I cannot honestly blog about cheerful little dog stories and observations without acknowledging our new, not-so-cheerful reality.

The early November anniversary of our first year with Kirby went by without any fanfare. We realized it a day or so later and felt warmed as we thought about how Kirby has become such an integral member of our family. Even Baxter has finally decided Kirby is a good companion (we caught them curled up together just the other evening).

When we took Kirby and Baxter to the veterinarian on Monday for their annual check-up, we had a pretty routine experience. Both dogs appeared to be healthy and normal and Baxter seemed relieved to be back with his original vet (we recently moved back into the same area where Baxter spent the first two years of his life).

The shock came the next morning when the vet called with the results of their heartworm tests. Kirby's came back positive.

At first I couldn't believe it. How could this be true? Baxter's was negative. Could it be a false positive?

Kirby shows now outward symptoms and the vet was as surprised as we were. While false positives are rare, he offered to retest. We brought him in that afternoon. Wednesday morning we got a firm, sad confirmation that Kirby is, indeed, heartworm positive.

What happens now? Can it be treated? Did this happen because I missed or was late with a dose of preventative? We don't have many mosquitoes in our area, how did a heartworm carrier find him? Based on several factors, the vet said it was most likely that Kirby had been exposed during his wild months on the farm before we adopted him. Dogs aren't usually tested until their first year exam.

Bloodwork and X-rays on Wednesday showed evidence of a mild enlargement of one heart ventricle and some cloudiness in the lung, both indicators of heartworm. He was diagnosed as "class 2." Not as mild as class 1, which we were hoping for, but still highly treatable.

The vet said Kirby's bloodwork indicated that he's otherwise perfectly healthy and with his young age, he is most likely going to go through the treatment well. The cure rate is 95-100%. But, he said, the treatment is not without some danger in and of itself.

I was relieved to find out that heartworm can be treated and eliminated (I had thought it was mostly fatal), however the treatment itself is a bit frightening. Our vet recommended a slow, phased approach recommended by the American Heartworm Society. Monday we will start by giving him his regular preventative (Interceptor) for three months to make sure all the larvae are dead (it only kills larvae, not adult worms). Then in late February the vet will administer a shot of Immiticide. This aresenic-based drug kills the adult worms. A month later he will get two more doses, 24-hours apart.

Through all of this, we need to keep Kirby from engaging in any major physical activity -- no jumping (he bounces like a rubber ball and the mere suggestion of going outside), no running up the stairs (his favorite new evolution of the "Kirby Derby" in our new, two-story home) and only slow walks. Nothing to get his heart rate up. Egad, what about the UPS guy?

I had to ask the vet about the stress of NOT being able to exercise. Kirby is young and full of energy. The vet explained that while not letting him run around and burn off his energy will create emotional and possibly physical stress on the dog, the danger of harm coming from letting him run around is much greater.

Apparently, as the larvae then the adult worms die (the latter is much more severe), they can break away from the walls of the arteries and enter the bloodstream where there is a risk of causing blockages, particularly in the lungs. Jarring movements can dislodge the dead and dying worms and, as I understand it, the force of a fast-beating heart can make the blockages more likely to happen. So it's the sedentary lifestyle for Kirby for several months to come.

I sent an email to Dr. Pema, Baxter's holistic vet from Sedona (now in Maryland working in the Garuda Aviary for rescured birds) to tell her about it. She offered the following advice to me: "Your awareness of concerns is important but not with attached fear or worry. Positive thought, brings positive outcomes."

I'm going to try to live by those words, for Kirby's sake (and for the sake of the rest of our household) as Kirby goes through the next several months of treatment. I'll try to keep my blog updated for those who know and love Kirby and want to follow his progress.

And as for Baxter, he's just going to have to teach Kirby a few things about the art of leisure.

Turkey Reverie

Baxter has been my kitchen shadow ever since Thanksgiving. Somehow the preparation of the bird and all the trimmings provided the kind of sensory overload that makes a dog think the best place to be is between me and whatever I'm trying to work on...be it at the sink, the stove, whatever.

I'm not certain how much of this is brilliant strategy (if I trip her, she might drop the turkey) vs. just wanting to be as close to what smells good as possible. Either way, the outcome is the same. I turn around with a hot pan in my hands and there he is. I take a step back from the refrigerator and voila, there he is again.

This has continued all the way through leftovers and turkey noodle soup and on to plain old daily cooking. My shadow. I think we need to lay some kitchen ground rules...

Frost Catchers and Navigating Through Art

I am continually amazed at how our dogs have adapted to life with an artist in the house. My husband, a painter and sculptor, is always collecting little bits of this and that, found objects which sometimes end up sitting on the bench next to the door before they are deployed in a variety of sculptural compositions. The dogs may sniff, but they don't touch them, no matter how interesting they are. We have paintings, pottery, art books and delicate sculptures all within easy dog reach and none are ever disturbed. We don't even see signs of nose prints.

When Baxter was a puppy, my husband used to paint on large canvasses on our back patio. Baxter would place himself between the paint and the canvas, without touching either, and lay down for a nap. Needless to say, for much of his puppyhood he had little specks of paint in his hair. It gave him a rather avant-garde appeal.

In the house, where we have always had a lot of art around, we watched puppy Baxter like a hawk. Each time he approached an art piece, we let him sniff but never touch. He learned fast, and, apparently, he has taught this reverence for objects d'art to Kirby. Other than a couple of teething puppy bites on the blinds by the sliding door, Kirby hasn't chewed up any household items, artistic or otherwise.

This holds true for objects in the yard as well. Lately my husband has been taking his invention of the "frost catcher" to new levels... He's watching the weather, noting the temperature and humidity and, on the most promising nights, placing his works of environmental art in the yard, in the garden, on the windshield, any place that might catch the remarkably elusive crystals. His latest experiment involves creating frost heaves in a bottle and it has moved from the garden to our freezer. Finding bottles of dirt in the freezer really didn't surprise or alarm me as much as it probably should have...I guess I've been married to an artist for too long to be surprised by such things.

In any case, the dogs are doing a pretty good job of staying away from the frost catchers. Unfortunately, Baxter learned this the hard way. While the dogs have become used to navigating around sculptures on our back patio, last winter the frost catchers began showing up in the lawn (which was, as far as Baxter was concerned, dog territory). The first of these frost catchers was attached to a shovel handle and placed in the middle of the back yard. Not anticipating such an anomaly, Baxter discovered the standing shovel handle by collision while taking a night time spin through the yard. (Dogs may have good night vision, but that doesn't necessarily mean they watch where they're going...)

The other night, when the mysterious shovel-handle frost catcher made its first appearance in our new yard, Baxter eyed it with suspicion and gave it a wide berth.

Baxter's Retreat

Last week Baxter started doing something new. One evening, after returning from a trip to the back yard, I went over to the coat closet to hang up my jacket. When I opened the closet door, Baxter walked right in, as if it were something entirely normal to do. I parted the coats and peered into the semi-darkness. Bax was just sitting in there. I left the door open.

Now this is quite a large closet (it goes back and around under the stairway) and, unlike the rest of the living room, it is carpeted. At first I figured this was one of those "just checking things out" explorations, but when he did it again last evening and curled up for a snooze, I realized this is Baxter's getaway.

For some reason, Kirby doesn't go into that closet, so Bax has it all to himself...a quiet, carpeted retreat. Hey, Kirby has his crate, so I guess it's only fair that Baxter has a cave of his own.

Another Reason Dogs Make Us Feel Better

We've all seen the reports of studies that show how having a dog can help you live a longer, healthier life. Of course, this is probably due to many factors, from having to get out and walk once in a while to just having a companion to care for and be loved by.

I'd have to say that one of my favorite aspects of dog companionship -- one that inevitably brings a smile to my face no matter what mood I'm in -- is the wholeheartedly enthusiastic greeting.

I was reminded of the power of that greeting just this morning, after having slept in a bit. My husband got up earlier, took the dogs out and shut the bedroom door so I could continue to sleep uninterrupted. When I finally dragged myself out of bed about a half hour later, I opened the bedroom door and received one of those bouncy, tail-wagging, joyful greetings that tells you just how much you are appreciated. You'd think I'd been gone for hours. I guess, to a dog, sleep is going away to another place. They spend a lot of time there, so they know it well.

My first experiences of the day tend to forecast the kind of day I'm going to have. It's the "right/wrong side of the bed" phenomenon. Being reminded, first thing, that I have two canine beings who are absolutely thrilled to see me is not only a stroke to my groggy morning ego, but also a deep, heartfelt reminder that no matter what happens for the rest of the day, I have warm-hearted beings who care about me.

Of course, I know this about my husband too, even without the enthusiastic morning greeting (he's not enthusiastic about anything until he's had his morning coffee). But with the dogs it's much more immediate. Dogs wake up demonstrating how much they appreciate you, no matter what side of the bed you (or they) got up on.

This morning's enthusiastic greeting made my day. No matter what happens for the rest of the day, I will have that first memory of looking down at those shiny brown eyes and wagging tails saying "welcome to the waking world, we've been waiting for you!"

If that's not enough to help me live longer, it's certainly enough to make living every day worthwhile.

Chasing Leaves

The sun decided to peek out for a bit today so I seized the moment to go for a walk with the dogs. Much like the wind that was blowing all the beautiful fall leaves off the trees, Baxter and Kirby were a swirl of wild activity. Despite the use of the "Gentle Leader" on Bax and the "No Pull Harness" on Kirby, I found myself being pulled down the street by two completely gonzo dogs that would appear not to have any training whatsoever. "Whoa!" "Easy!" "Heel!" "Just a dang minute here!"

Nothing seemed to have any effect. Baxter had his nose in the wind and Kirby was bouncing and pouncing and chasing every leaf that whipped by on the wind. While my common sense (and my shoulder) were suggesting that I might want to get better control over the situation, my spirit understood. After a couple of days spent mostly inside due to rainy weather, a bit of sunshine and the swirl of fall leaves on the wind was almost whipping me into a frenzy.

Of course, I was missing most of the interesting smells that Baxter was eagerly tracking on the wind (I'm sure a couple of them would have led us directly to the doorsteps of neighborhood cats). But I sort of understood Kirby's fascination with the leaves. I've always loved autumn leaves. As a child I collected them and pressed them between the pages of our old dictionary, trying to save a bit of that glorious color to discover during the gray winter months. My friends and I would rake leaves into big piles and jump into them, scattering them all over the yard to be raked up again.

For Kirby, leaves on the wind are perfect for terrier pouncing practice, and one could only describe the gusto with which he jumped and scurried and pounced as pure glee.

So I let the boys pull me a bit today. Sometimes you just can't hold back your enthusiasm, and I have to admit I was pretty excited to feel that sunshine on face and watch the swirling orange, red and gold.

A Refreshing Idea for Holiday Gifts

The Polishing Stone Magazine Brings Low-tech Balance to High-tech Holiday Gifts

Ok, this is a rather shameless plug, but this is a great magazine. If you are looking for that "something different" to give as a gift this year, I highly recommend it. Because it's not glossy, it's tempting to initially think it's a lightweight magazine -- that couldn't be farther from the truth. Without advertising (how nice!) it really is packed with wonderful content. Yes, I do write for them occasionally, and I consider it an honor. I was a fan before I was a writer for them.

So check out their website, view some articles and give it a try. I gave it as holiday gifts to friends and family last year and have received a lot of wonderful comments back. Some of them are now giving subscriptions as gifts to others. I love to see that kind of groundswell of growth, especially for a non-profit magazine that's run by people who really have a sincere desire to make the world a better place.

Good Habits, Bad Habits and Just Because He Can

I read once that you need to do something at least 21 times to make it a habit. I have no idea if this is true, but the converse sure seems to be true. If I go more than three weeks without writing in my blog, it seems to take me a long time to get back into the daily (or at least weekly) habit.

By contrast, our canine friends thrive on habit. If we got up every morning and did everything exactly the same way day after day (particularly if it involved a long walk or trip to the dog park), our dogs would be perfectly content.

For dogs, I think it only takes two or three times of doing something to make a good habit. And even less to create a bad one -- one false move (such as Auntie Charlotte slipping Fido a piece of turkey at Thanksgiving) can have Fido begging for food at the table for the rest of his life.

With dogs there is also a third category of habit: "just because I can." I think our dogs crave routine so much, they create little rituals for themselves, just to add another habit to the daily list. Kirby has done this just recently.

Outside of our home there is a small, brick, L-shaped bench. Sometimes, when it's nice outside, I'll go sit on it and soak up the sunshine. Baxter has no trouble jumping up on the bench to sit next to me, but little Kirby could never seem to get up there by himself, despite a lot of coaxing. Suddenly one day, Kirby made it. Of course, I lavished the kudos on him, which only added to the inspiration.

The next time we went out, he tried again. He failed a few times, but finally made it. He was hooked. Now, every single time we pass the bench Kirby has to jump up there, just because he can. He always looks up at me with this "isn't this GREAT?!" expression on his face. Of course, I reinforce it with praise.

This "just because I can" habit has not only inspired Kirby, I think it has helped build up his jumping muscles, because just the other day, much to my surprise, he jumped into the back of the Subaru without any assistance (previously, after several failed attempts, he would just stand there with his little paws up on the car and wait for us to lift him in).

Of course, none of this impresses Baxter one bit. He's now not the only dog who can do these things and I think he's concerned that these are just two more ways Kirby is moving-in on his domain. So I'm taking the opportunity to reward Baxter's other unique, good habits. Such as bringing me my slippers.

I wonder how long it will take for Kirby to figure that one out?

Admiring the Garden at Hosen-in Temple, Ohara, Japan

We're enjoying the beautiful garden with its 700-year-old pine tree, drinking traditional Japanese green matcha tea and eating Kyoto sweets. Ohara is just outside of Kyoto, up in the hills.

A Great Vacation in Japan

As you may have noticed, I took a bit of a breather from the blogosphere, but I'm back. After an insanely busy summer of moving and working and business travel, my husband and I went on a much-needed vacation to Japan. We went with friends, fellow blogger KM-Clear and her husband. We left the dogs in the care of my mom, who did her duty as dog-Grandma. We also hired a dog-walker to come three times a week and take the boys to the dog park or for a brisk walk, just to give Mom a break and ensure Bax and Kirby didn't get the cabin-fever crazies.

Upon our return, Mom informed us that she had thoroughly spoiled the dogs and we'll just have to deal with that. Thanks Mom! Of course, now Bax and Kirby absolutely insist on going out every hour or two. But they're gradually getting back onto a normal schedule and we truly appreciate the dog-sitting. I'm sure they had a much better time hanging out with Mom than in the kennel.

Our vacation was wonderful. We went to Takayama and Kyoto and spent a couple of days in Tokyo.

We had never been to the Japan Alps before, so visiting the little mountain towns of the Hida region around Takayama was a treat. We expected to see some lovely scenery and get a feel for rural Japanese life. What we didn't expect was the truly wonderful food we experienced there, which differs somewhat from the seafood-centric meals from more coastal regions. My favorite was Hoba Miso: Hida beef and vegetables with miso cooked on a hoba (magnolia) leaf over a small clay burner. I'm not a huge beef eater, but the thin slices of extremely tender local beef practically melted in the mouth. The local root vegetables and mushrooms, neither of which I could readily identify at least half the time, were absolutely delicious. And the miso from that region is amazing -- thick and chunky, salty and savory. Every restaurant has their own variation on the recipe and every one of them I tasted was delicious. Soba (buckwheat) noodles are also a specialty of the region, and I enjoyed them hot and cold (zaru soba) on many occasions.

Another surprise was seeing wild monkeys, known as "zaru" (yes, like the cold noodles, not sure what the link is there) -- large, pink-faced Japanese macaques, often called "snow monkeys," who wander freely in the mountains. We got our first glimpse in the park at Kamikochi, in the Japan Alps, as a large male put on a show for the tourists by following along the boardwalk, sitting down on a little hill and eating a large mushroom right in front of us before scampering off into the woods. We saw females and even a little toddler following along behind his mother. It was quite a sight for us. The locals weren't very impressed, but we were just so surprised to see them. I had always thought the snow monkeys lived on Hokkaido, where they hang out in the hot springs. We learned that these monkeys reside all over Japan, mostly in the mountains.

Our second experience with monkeys was in the hills just outside of Kyoto. As we were walking down a small street after visiting a couple of temples, we saw a very large male monkey cross the street, size up a street vendor to see if he might be able to grab something from one of the barrels of food, then scurry around a corner. We followed him up the alley and saw him climb into an upper story window of a house. A ruckus ensued with the house cat and dog and the soon the monkey climbed out of the window and disappeared behind the house. Soon thereafter the owner of the home, who was apparently working in one of the shops along the street, came running and asking if we saw where the "zaru" went. We did our best "he went that-away" in sign language. She was relieved that he wasn't still in the house, but I got the distinct impression she was concerned about what havoc the monkey might have wreaked in the house.

Our next encounters with wildlife in urban settings were the deer in Nara. They pretty much rule the place -- in the Shinto religion, deer are considered messengers from the gods. The Nara deer have been designated a national treasure. However these national treasures seem to spend most of their time wandering around the public plazas head-butting tourists in hopes they'll drop their ice cream cones. I've never seen deer in such large numbers and so assertive with people. I stopped for a second to admire the beauty of the local scenery and before I knew it there was a big, black nose poinking my elbow. I wasn't about to give up my ice cream cone. Too bad a lot of the tourists, most of whom were Japanese school children at the time, freely gave the deer their candy wrappers and other garbage. Those deer ate everything, and they didn't look particularly healthy for it.

We noticed that a few of the bucks had had their antlers removed. Considering it was the time of the rut, that could be dangerous for them. But we also noticed that the bucks who still had their antlers were the ones who stayed away from the tourists, back in the woods. We even saw a couple of those guys sparring. I expect that keeping the particularly tourist-friendly bucks antler-free not only protects the tourists, but has a certain natural selection element to it, if the more tourist-wary guys with the big racks get the mating rights.

Seeing the huge wooden temple, the spectacular and gigantic Buddha statue and the moonrise over the pagoda at Nara made all the deer-dodging more than worthwhile.

Most of our other animal experiences were a tad more domestic. We saw a lot of dogs in Japan, some breeds I recognized and others that were new to me. Many appeared to be related to the spitz-type breeds, such as the Akita or Shiba-Inu -- prick ears, curly tails, highly focused and cool to strangers. Japanese dog lovers also seem quite partial to the dachshund, and the Japanese version is a tad larger than miniature, with slightly longer legs than the dachsunds we usually see over here. Most of the ones I saw have long hair and slightly shorter noses. They were very cute and usually very friendly, and a couple of the black and tan ones looked a lot like Kirby with a close shave. Another cutie we saw a few times was a little dog that looked like a large version of the Papillon -- same coat, ears and shape, but about half again bigger than the Papillons we see here.

One of the best aspects of going on vacation is the escape from the realities of daily life. I didn't have cell phone service and I didn't have my computer with me. I confess that I did check email from the hotels every couple of days (I hired someone to mind my business while I was away, but I still felt the need to check-in). Occasionally we'd look at the newspaper, which was pretty depressing, and a few times we engaged in "can you believe what's going on in the world?" discussions with our friends. KM-Clear pretty much sums it up in her blog (linked above).

But for the most part I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed being blissfully semi-ignorant for a couple of weeks. I tried to live in the moment, enjoy the beauty of Kyoto's gardens, the temples and shrines, the good weather and the exploration of new foods. I managed to catch a cold about a week into the vacation, but other than that, I enjoyed just getting up in the morning and looking forward to the adventures that awaited us. That is the blessing of vacation.

I'll post some Japan pictures one of these days. Now that I'm back in the world of computers and cell phones and English media, I have lots of catch-up work to do...